Using VPW for 9/5 DDB Super Triple Play Jackpots

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alpax
Video Poker Master
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:42 pm

Using VPW for 9/5 DDB Super Triple Play Jackpots

Post by alpax »

This month's new game at VideoPoker.com is Super Triple Play Jackpots. I've read about this game on Mr. Dancer's article at the CDC Gaming Reports website.



Bob Dancer CDC - New Video Poker Games at G2E 2016

Here is a quick quote to what Mr. Dancer had to say about this game:

[QUOTE]

Generally, I liked this game — but not the name. This is a form of “Wheel Poker.” Possibly there are some patent or royalty issues I don’t understand, but using “Wheel Poker” in the title would tell players what they are getting.

This game combines Super Triple Play, which is a 6-coin-per-line game where you get higher-than-usual payouts on 4-of-a-kinds (usually, depending on the game) — and Wheel Poker, where you also pay an extra coin per line and you get to spin the wheel when you receive a 4-of-a-kind. Adding these games together makes this a 7-coins-per-line game.

The “Jackpot” in the title means there can be a progressive jackpot included in the game.

The strategy is relatively easy to figure out assuming you have an approximately-correct figure for the average wheel spin. Still, it’s a new strategy that has to be memorized for this game only — which is a drawback.

[/QUOTE]

I signed up for the GOLD membership for this month to explore this particular game since I was intrigued. It turns out my initial reaction was a slight disappointment in how this game played out as I've tried out the DDB. It is strictly a 3-line game and I went on a long stretch without a quad to start off. I was down more than 4400 credits before I got quad 7s, that's more than a royal flush. This game is really heavily dependent on the quad, any quad for that matter.

The main motive of this post is to discuss how to approach this game should you consider playing it at a live casino in the future. This game is a 5 card game with just boosted payouts for the quads (wild royals and 4 deuces for Deuces Wild) in the form of higher base pay and a chance to spin the wheel for even more credits, so it is entirely possible to utilize a commercial video poker software to help you train for this game.

I will strictly be promoting Video Poker for Winners as it is the flagship product here

I personally have not played Super Triple Play for myself, but I have heard about it. So when I saw that the 9/5 Double Double Bonus was the top pay schedule, I did not feel disappointed yet since the payouts can change.

As a heads up, the 9/5 Double Double Bonus is NOT the overall highest paying variant of Super Triple Play Jackpots. I merely chose it because of the overwhelming popularity of DDB and people are willing to sacrifice some of the expected return to play a "fun" game.

On the lower left might be the most appealing part, when a player hits quads, he/she has a chance to win a progressive! It starts at 20,000 credits, but there are no odds disclosed to determine the chances of winning the progressive. It might justify the lower payout.

On this game, if you bet the standard 5 credits per line, you will get the standard 9/5 DDB pay schedule which is 97.87% with optimal play.



The very next push of Bet One button will go directly to the 7 credit play, which enables the bonus features of the Super Triple Play as well as the Wheel Poker.



Notable Payout Changes:

Straight Flush now pays 700 instead of 250
All Quad Payouts are DOUBLED
Full House pays 50 instead of 45
Flush pays 30 instead of 25
Straight pays 25 instead of 20

According to Action Gaming, the optimal return of this game will be slightly better than standard 9/5 DDB at 98.199%



Now on to the Help pages, it indicates the wheel spin will occur for 4 of a Kinds, and the payouts are ranging 125 to 20000 credits. Not much other details disclosed. This is where creative thinking is required, so I tried my best to figure out what the average payout is. It took guesswork to figure it out.





Based on 7 coin payouts:

If no wheel gets spun after a player hits a quad: the return is 86.62%

If the wheel lands on the minimum amount of 125 every single time: the return is 90.92%. I figured this part out by adding 125 credits to each of the quad payouts since you will get to spin the wheel.

By doing guesswork, I was able to determine that an average payout of 335 credits per wheel spin on the quads will attain very close to the 98.199% payout that Action Gaming has reported.

Configuring Video Poker for Winners for training purposes

1. Open VPW
2. Select Game King Single Line VP
3. Select DDB as the Game Type
4. Go to Options and Change Paytable



5. Enter the Following Values




Royal Flush - 4000
Straight Flush - 700
4 Aces with Any 2, 3, 4 - 4335
4 2s, 3s, 4s with Ace, 2, 3, 4 - 1935
4 Aces - 1935
4 2s, 3s, 4s - 1135
4 5s thru Kings - 835
Full House - 50
Flush - 30
Straight - 25
Three of a Kind - 15
Two Pair - 5
Jacks or Better - 5

6. Save this custom pay schedule as super triple play jackpots or something easy to remember.



As for validation purposes, I've used the analyze game feature.

The game's return is 137.510% based on 5 coin bet. But since you are required to wager 7 coins, you multiply by a factor of (5/7).

137.510% * (5/7) = 98.221% (this is close as it gets to 98.199%)

Some noticeable strategy deviations with Super Triple Jackpots compared to standard DDB:

1. If you are dealt two pairs, now you hold the high pair and discard the other pair, not just Aces.
2. Pair of 2s, 3s, 4s beat 4 to a Flush in addition to the high pairs with the standard strategy
3. Pairs now beat 4 to a Straight
4. Three to a Straight Flush with 1 Gap beats an Ace, Three to a Straight Flush with 2 Gaps beats Jack, Queen, King
5. Three to a Straight Flush without Gaps beats 4 to a Straight
6. When dealt ANY full house. Break it up and go for the QUAD!!!

Vman96
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:49 am

Post by Vman96 »

Its very weird that in the actual game offers 10/6/5, but in the 6th paytable column in the help screen it still says 9/5/4. So one of these things is wrong. I am surprised they up DDB to 10/6/5 because in regular Super Triple Play, full houses/flushes/straights didn't change in DDB. If 10/6/5 is the correct payout, it makes the wheel contribution significantly weaker than normal spin poker.

alpax
Video Poker Master
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:42 pm

Post by alpax »

I appreciate the opinions you have for this game, it is not looking good again...

I also thought the pay schedules on the HELP page looks like an error after the Bet 5 as well, but I did check out the other games (Jacks or Better / Bonus Poker / Boner Deluxe) and those help pages do not show the boosted payout values. I did the guesswork on those games on the side and similarly I got 330-335 credits on average from the wheel spin.

I think 7/5 Bonus Poker has the most deviations, Action Gaming rates its payout as 98.7%. The 6/5 Bonus Poker is not too bad at 97.9% compared to what its original game pays out (the Full House is downgraded from 55 to 50).



I've explored the original variants of Super Triple Play and Wheel Poker

Action Poker rates Super Triple Play 9/5 DDB at 98.900% return, I think it is incorrect as I got 98.19725% using Wizard of Odds tools and VPW.

The only changes I notably see is the quad payouts are doubled and the Straight Flush payout (I think this hand is the easiest part to adjust the overall payout) is increased from 250 to 700. The HELP pages do show a SUPER payout which reflects the boosted payout.



The pay table on the help pages does reflect the SUPER payout



For the Wheel Poker, all quads trigger a spin. The range of values is lowered at 100 to 2000. None of the hand outcomes are changed.





Action Gaming rates 9/5 DDB Wheel Poker at 98.76% return. With enough guesswork I was able to determine the average wheel spin payout at 427.5 credits. I was surprised to see training mode is offered for Wheel Poker but not Super Triple Play. On two pairs with a high pair, since quads pay off 677.5 credits on average for a 5-K quad, the optimal play is to throw away the low pair.



I would conclude that you are correct in your assumption that the reduced average for the Wheel Poker end of this new specialty game is causing the increased payout for Flush, Straight, and Full House. The casino operators are probably hoping players find the fact that this game's return is lower than the original Wheel Poker being negligible by offering a progressive that starts at 20,000 credits.

I did not evaluate Deuces Wild as much, but the best pay schedule is the 20/12/10 Fooler Deuces, and the gains this specialty game provides is 0.99% (97.58% vs 98.569%).

daabearz
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:21 pm

Post by daabearz »

Looks like the big payout from the wheel is the 20,000 credits. But, some have the progressive. I wonder how much the 20,000 credits makes up of the return. Maybe 1%? 1.5%?

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